My mum has had dogs all her life, the last one was put down about 3 years ago. She said at the time she'd never have another one because she was too old and it was too painful when they died.
My dad died last June and since then she has often mentioned getting another dog for company.
She is, I believe, in the early stages of AD, the memory nurse wrote that she had "crossed the threshold for a demential diagnosis" and the progression has been very slow and steady, typical of AD.
I have deflected the dog conversations, being very vague about keeping an eye open, or letting her know if I hear about one.
She wants a small female, not too old, not a puppy, no health problems, housetrained, doesn't need much exercise (she hates walking) and I have pointed out, truthfully, that those sort of dogs don't generally end up in rescue centres.
In all honesty, I don't believe she would be capable of caring for it properly. She would either forget to feed it or feed it too much, any veterinary care would be down to me and I don't think she would exercise it enough. Her last dog was very poorly towards the end and had the odd accident and mum would go ballistic, she has very low tolerance for mess or dirt.
The problem, of course, is that as far as she is concerned, there is nothing wrong with her. She is just lonely. In her reality, the little dog would sit on her lap, gazing adoringly at her, it would never be ill/have an accident and she would trot to the end of the road once a day, meet lots of lovely people and have lovely chats, and never be lonely again
My OH thinks we should just get her one and monitor it, intervene if necessary but I don't think it would be fair on the dog.
It is becoming a real issue because she is now fixating on it, she brings it up every time I see her, often accompanied by tears and accounts of how lonely she is.
We've suggested a cat, but she says that won't get her out of the house. I see her at least 2-3 times a week, phone her every day, have suggested lunch clubs etc but she's rejected all those because she's 'not a joiner'.
I've got 2 dogs and she sees them weekly and occasionally has them for a few hours, but she wants her own...
Any advice?
My dad died last June and since then she has often mentioned getting another dog for company.
She is, I believe, in the early stages of AD, the memory nurse wrote that she had "crossed the threshold for a demential diagnosis" and the progression has been very slow and steady, typical of AD.
I have deflected the dog conversations, being very vague about keeping an eye open, or letting her know if I hear about one.
She wants a small female, not too old, not a puppy, no health problems, housetrained, doesn't need much exercise (she hates walking) and I have pointed out, truthfully, that those sort of dogs don't generally end up in rescue centres.
In all honesty, I don't believe she would be capable of caring for it properly. She would either forget to feed it or feed it too much, any veterinary care would be down to me and I don't think she would exercise it enough. Her last dog was very poorly towards the end and had the odd accident and mum would go ballistic, she has very low tolerance for mess or dirt.
The problem, of course, is that as far as she is concerned, there is nothing wrong with her. She is just lonely. In her reality, the little dog would sit on her lap, gazing adoringly at her, it would never be ill/have an accident and she would trot to the end of the road once a day, meet lots of lovely people and have lovely chats, and never be lonely again
My OH thinks we should just get her one and monitor it, intervene if necessary but I don't think it would be fair on the dog.
It is becoming a real issue because she is now fixating on it, she brings it up every time I see her, often accompanied by tears and accounts of how lonely she is.
We've suggested a cat, but she says that won't get her out of the house. I see her at least 2-3 times a week, phone her every day, have suggested lunch clubs etc but she's rejected all those because she's 'not a joiner'.
I've got 2 dogs and she sees them weekly and occasionally has them for a few hours, but she wants her own...
Any advice?